PRESS DIGEST- British Business - Feb 6

Feb 6 (Reuters) - The following are the top stories on the business pages of British newspapers. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

The Times

Job losses at Carillion Plc have risen to more than 800, after the official receiver said that it was laying off another tranche of workers employed by the failed contractor. bit.ly/2BbbniS

Petrofac Ltd has warned investors that the Serious Fraud Office is deepening its investigation into alleged bribery, corruption and money laundering at the troubled oil services company. bit.ly/2BbwjWR

The Guardian

Asda has become the latest supermarket to join the war against plastic by pledging to reduce it "wherever" it can, including slashing the amount in its own-brand packaging by 10 percent in the next 12 months. bit.ly/2BbyXvS

Charles Wilson, the chief executive of Booker Group Plc , is to run Tesco Plc's core UK and Ireland retail operations following Tesco's 3.7 billion pounds ($5.17 billion) takeover of the wholesaler next month. bit.ly/2Bbbuei

Activist investor Elliott Advisors has launched a fresh assault on BHP Billiton Plc, urging it to unify its dual companies and generate $22 billion in savings for shareholders. bit.ly/2BcU4y5

Sky News

The Australian owner of Homebase plans to close up to 40 stores after writing off hundreds of millions of pounds over its botched takeover of the DIY chain two years ago. bit.ly/2BdbuKD

The owners of Heathrow Airport and British Airways have clashed after the latter called for the former's "monopoly" to be broken up. bit.ly/2BcVQiH

The Independent

The UK's top financial regulator, Andrew Bailey, has said there is nothing stopping Britain and the European Union settling on a mutually beneficial and non-disruptive Brexit agreement for financial services, even though Britain is ultimately set to lose its valuable European financial services passport. ind.pn/2BbFoPG

Half of UK businesses believe that skills shortages will be made worse by Brexit this year, a new study has found. ind.pn/2BcbH0P ($1 = 0.7163 pounds) (Compiled by Bengaluru newsroom; Editing by Sandra Maler)